Alfa Romeo wins Copa del Rey

"Bella Mente" has tried, but "Alfa Romeo" was the fastest boat of the Mini Maxi fleet of the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. Neville Crichton's white and majestic 70 footer has confirmed, in case anyone doubted it, that he is the fastest one of the Mini Maxi fleet registered at the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre.

In 8 to 14 knots of wind with a direction of 190, "Alfa Romeo" crossed the finish line with two minutes advantage over American "Bella Mente", who was second, followed by" Allegre" in third place. "Bella Mente's" revenge came in the second race, where "Alfa Romeo" crossed first but couldn't gain the time she needs to give in compensation, and was second after Hap Fauth's Mini Maxi. Praiseworthy third place for Fernando Campos and Kiko Sánchez Luna's "CAM" in today's second race -and the Copa's last-, ahead Mini Maxis "Allegre", "Container" and "Jethou", which were fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. "Bella Mente" finishes the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre in second place, and "Container" will have to make do with the third one.

Highlights from the closing day of the 28th Copa del Rey. Palma, 8 August 2009. Video copyright Copa del Rey

Alfa Romeo III still leads Copa del Rey but suffers in light winds

Little wind today in the bay of Palma. The sea breeze -known as Embat in the region- which has been blowing during the last few days reaching 20 knots, dropped and hardly reached 10 knots today. That made "Alfa Romeo" suffer and finish both windward-leeward races in third and fourth place respectively. This shows the difficulties that Neville Crichton's 70 footer goes through with lighter winds, where she can't gain the time she needs to give in compensation.

After several days crossing the finish line just a few seconds after "Alfa Romeo", American "Bella Mente" managed to win both today's races. This doesn't put "Alfa Romeo's" final victory at risk, but helps "Bella Mente" open a gap from third qualified, Marcus Wieser's "Container". 18 points separate British "Allegre" from "Container", with 24 and 38 points respectively. Andy Soriano's Mini Maxi has managed to kick "CAM" out of fourth place. The reason for that was probably the two bad starts of the Spanish IRC Optimized TP52 skippered by H.R.M. The Prince of Asturias. The boat owned by Olympic champions Fernando León and Kiko Sánchez Luna will try to get fourth position back tomorrow.

Highlights from the 5th day of the Copa del Rey. Palma, 7 August 2009. Video copyright Copa del Rey

Alfa Romeo leads IRC class in Copa del Rey, BellaMente takes coastal race

Today it was the turn for the IRC,TP52 and Swan 45 classes to race in the Bravo area, the setting for the coastal races at this 28th Copa del Rey. The three fleets had to sail a course of about 28 miles through an intermediate scoring mark in just nine to twelve knots of unstable and shifty southerly breeze.

This was the last chance for those lagging behind on the leaderboard to reduce their deficits.

The biggest surprise was provided by the Mini Maxi class, where "BellaMente" won followed by "Alfa Romeo". The American 70 footer caught "Alfa Romeo" in the first part of the course, and so both were tied on points at the first scoring mark.

Even with her coastal race win, "BellaMente" is still 7.5 points behind Alfa Romeo, which seems to be in good shape to take the Copa del Rey trophy home this year. But Neville Crichton's Mini Maxi "Alfa Romeo" will not be able to leave Palma with an undefeated record, such a perfect scoreline as was set last year by the Spanish Navy's IRC Optimised TP52 "Aifos", which won all his races in last year's edition. "BellaMente" and "Container" tussle for second place, but the discard favors Hap Fauth's BellaMente.

Highlights from the 4th day of the Copa del Rey. Palma, 6 August 2009. Video copyright Copa del Rey

The QUEBRAMAR GP42 Cup ready for the 27th Copa del Rey AUDI MAPFRE

The international Quebramar GP42 Cup is now passed its midpoint and the title is still far from clear and getting more open after each event. The 7 GP42 boats will now join the Mediterranean’s most important regatta after an exciting event in Valencia where they once again demonstarted that anything could happen in this class. The Spanish will be the majority of the fleet with 4 yachts, Desafío, Canarias Puerto Calero, Caser-Quum and MADRID, followed by the two Italians AIRIS and Roma GP42.2 and the Swiss Near Miss.

So far the Quebramar GP42 Cup has seen 20 races sailed with 8 yachts in each event in three locations, Santa Margherita Ligure (Italy), Saint-Tropez (France) and Valencia (Spain). There is no better proof that it is a high-level, extremely close and professional circuit than the fact that there was a different winner in each event. In addition, the crushing majority of boats have won at least one of the 20 races and the podium of each event is always decided in the last day if not the last race.

The overall standings of the Quebramar GP42 Cup are so tight that the waters of the Palma bay promise to be the stage of an intense battle for leadership. Desafío, a 2007 boat optimized during the winter and helmed by Laureano Wizner, is still holding on to its first place overall at 62 points but with a shrinking margin over the Swiss Near Miss, a 2008 Farr design helmed by Bertrand Pacé, at 68 points and the Italian AIRIS, a 2008 Felci design helmed by Sandro Montefusco, at 70.

The Quebramar GP42 Cup in full action in Valencia during the Trofeo de la Reina Rolex Cup. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / QUEBRAMAR GP42 Cup

A total of 12 races are scheduled for the 27th Copa del Rey AUDI MAPFRE, starting at 1pm every day. Given the fact a maximum of 9 races count towards the overall standings of the Quebramar Cup, the teams will now have the possibility to discard, potentially, up to 3 races, something that hadn’t taken place so far in the season.

This year’s edition of the Copa del Rey is the second one the GP42 fleet is taking part since its official launch in 2006. Gonzalo Esteves’ Quebramar-Chrysler easily dominated last year’s event, finishing 20 points ahead second-placed Canarias Puerto Calero.

Official racing starts on Tuesday, July 29th but without any doubt the most interesting novelty in the Quebramar Cup will be the official practice day, on Monday July 28th. Although not counting towards the event’s or the championship’s score table, the practice race will bring the GP42 excitement closer to 7 lucky guests. For the first time ever each of the participating yachts will carry a guest that will be able to have an unforgettable hands-on experience of the races.

Although the GP42 fleet will be racing on its own separate race area, it will not be a permanent one. The event’s organizers have set up three different areas, Alfa, Bravo and Charlie, and the more than 100 yachts will be rotating through each one every day. This feature will undoubtedly make tacticians think more in order to stay ahead of the fleet.

The 27 Copa del Rey AUDI MAPFRE is organized by Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP) and the Spanish Sailing Federation (RFEV) and is sponsored by AUDI and MAPFRE.

After the Copa del Rey, the following events of the Quebramar GP42 Cup are the Trofeo Quebramar-Chrysler in Cascais (August 28th to 30th) and the grand finale the Trofeo César Manrique in Puerto Calero (October 16th to 18th).

Copa del Rey - Final day: The TP52's seen from the air

We publish today a set of pictures of the impressive TP52 fleet racing during the final day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Siemens won the event after a tight fight with Mutua Madrileña.

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last day of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 4 August 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Copa del Rey - Day 1 - Race 2: Siemens grabs victory from Mutua Madrileña on final stretch

The day's second race was even more exciting than the first one as Siemens and Mutua Madrileña had an all out battle, alternating leadership throughout the race. A small error on the final run aboard Vasco Vascotto's boat handed the victory to Siemens that overtook them and crossed the finish line a mere 5 seconds ahead.

There were two general recalls before the race started at the third attempt. Since there was no clear favored side on the starting line, the fleet split up in two packed groups at each end, making it impossible for the race committee to clearly see the boats over the line. Peter Reggio, the principal race officer, took no chances and recalled the fleet twice.

Siemens and Mutua Madrileña lead since the start and were neck and neck throughout the race. The victory was decided on the final stretch of the final leg, where Paul Cayard calling tactics on Siemens, correctly chose the left side of the course, picking up better pressure. A fierce battle also took place for third position between Platoon and Bribón, with the Spanish winning it by 5 seconds.

After the fist two races of the event it is clear that racing is very close and the importance of the first leg can never be exaggerated, especially the approach at the first top mark. A couple of tens of meters can make the difference between 5th and 15th.

Start of the second race of the first day of the Copa del Rey. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

RUSAL-Synergy on the first beat. The Russian team had a very difficult first day. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valle Romano - Mean Machine in the first beat. Peter de Ridder's boat had a disastrous second race, finishing eleventh. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Siemens was leading the race at the top mark, followed by Mutua Madrileña and Platoon. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The rest of the fleet at the top mark. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Once again, crew work aboard CAM was far from flawless. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The presence of Russell Coutts aboard Artemis didn't guarantee great results. The Swedish boat rounded the top mark 15th. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The TP52 fleet in the first run. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The battle between Siemens and Mutua Madrileña for leadership was fierce. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Paul Cayard was calling tactics on Siemens. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Platoon, helmed by Jochen Schuemman, was third in the top mark. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

One of the numerous close situations at the top mark and proof of the importance that 10 meters can have in a boat's ranking. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Halfway down the final leg, the race was still extremely close. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Siemens grabs victory from Mutua Madrileña in the final stretch. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Copa del Rey - Day 1 - Race 1: Important win for Mutua Madrileña

Vasco Vascotto and his Mutua Madrileña team opened the 2007 Copa del Rey races of the TP52 class with a very important victory. Racing started after an one-hour delay with the left being the favored side and many holes in wind patterns that made the difference. Platoon, helmed by Alinghi's Jochen Schuemann, lead the race from the start although Mutua Madrileña and Siemens were closely behind them. The race's turning point took place at the leeward gate where Platoon made the wrong tactical decision and gave up leadership in the second beat. Mutua Madrileña lead the race from there on while Caixa Galicia recovered nicely and crossed the finish line third.

Start of the first TP52 race of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Start of the first TP52 race of the 2007 Copa del Rey. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Patches tacking during the first upwind leg. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing


Siemens had a clean start on the left and remained third throughout the first race. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

American newcomer Glory had difficult start but finally recovered to tenth. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Helmed by Alinghi's Jochen Schuemann, the German boat Platoon was leading the fleet at the first mark. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The Spanish CAM, a 2007-generation boat, languishes in the middle of the score table. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The bottom of the fleet starts the first downwind leg. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Platoon was still leading the race at the approach of the leeward gate, followed by Mutua Madrileña and Siemens. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Caixa Galicia kept gaining positions and rounded the leeward gate at 4th place. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valle Romano - Mean Machine didn't live up to the high expectations. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Close situation such as this between Valars and Anonimo Q8 are the rule at the leeward gate. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

At the 2nd top mark, Mutua Madrileña had gained leadership of the race. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Siemens held on to their 3rd position at the 2nd top mark. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Mutua Madrileña sails towards their first victory. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Excellent recovery by Caixa Galicia that finishes second. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Platoon was unable to recover the leadership and finished fourth. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Even after an hour of racing, the finish was close in the middle of the fleet. Palma, 31 July 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing